Cork plug



March 1s, 1941. J. FURQUET 2,235,611

Patented Mar. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT oFEIcE CORK PLUG JosFurquet, Buenos Aires, Argentina Application July 27, 1939, Serial No.286,936

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to stoppers for bottles or similarreceptacles and particularly those containing gas evolving beveragessuch as champagne, cider and similar liquids.

An object of the invention resides in providing a composite stopperwherein the cork plug is adapted to engage the inner neck of thereceptacle and a core member which is of more rigid material than thecork is arranged within the U stopper so that the outer end of thestopper will be reinforced so as to prevent breakage thereof duringremoval of the stopper from the neck of the receptacle.

A further object of the invention resides in providing means within thecork plug for preventing deterioration of the reinforcing core member.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be readilyapparent from a consideration of the following description and theannexed drawing wherein an exemplary embodiment of the invention isdisclosed.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of the outer part of the stopperelement showing the recess therein.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the cup-shaped member adapted to t overthe inner end of the core.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the core member.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the composite stopper illustrating thecore member within the outer stopper element.

Fig. 5 is a similar sectional view showing the manner in which the outerstopper element is deformed after insertionin the neck of a bottle orreceptacle.

As shown in Fig. 1 the outer element or meinber I of the stopper ispreferably formed of cork and being generally cylindrical-shapedparticularly on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The stopperelement I is provided with a longitudinally extending recess 3 asillustrated in Fig, 1. The recess terminates within the outer stopperelement so as to provide an end wall 2. In other words the recess 3 doesnot extend entirely through the outer stopper element. The recess ispreferably cylindrical in shape and concentric with the axis of thestopper element I.

A core member 4 is adapted to be arranged within the recess 3 and theshape of the core member therefore corresponds to the shape of therecess 3. The core member may be formed of any relatively rigid materialsuch as wood.

It will be appreciated, however, that other materials may be employed informing the core member 4. When the core member is formed of vwood andparticularly when the grain thereof extends longitudinally of the coremember means 5 may be provided for covering the inner end of the coremember. Such means may take the form of a cup-shaped member 'I which isadapted to fit over the end of the core member. The cupshaped member 'Imay be formed of any suitable 10 material which is impermeable to thegases evolved by the beverage in the bottle or receptacle. Thus, thecup-shaped member may be formed of a metal foil such as aluminum orpaper treated to provide a gas-impermeable cover for the inner end ofthe core member.

The core member 4 with the cup-shaped element I arranged on the endthereof is introduced through the recess 3 in a manner as illustrated inFig. 3 so that the composite stopper is 20 thus provided with arelatively rigid core for reinforcing the outer end of the plug.

The end 2 of the cork element is adapted to be inserted within the neclkof the bottle or receptacle and the outer cork element is thus de- 25formed and assumes a shape somewhat like that represented in Fig. 5.I'he neck of the bottle or receptacle compresses the outer cork elementtoprovide a relatively thin shell around the core member 4 as indicatedat 5. That portion of 30 the outer cork element I which remains outsideof the 'bottle neck is not compressed so as to form an enlarged headportion 6 as shown in Fig, 5. When it is desired to remove the compositestopper from the neck of the receptacle 35 lateral forces may be appliedto the head portion 6 so as to wiggle the stopper preparatory to theremoval thereof from the bottle neck. Such lateral pressure, however,will not cause the outer cork element to be broken along the 40narrowest portion 5 since the core member 4 provides reinforcement forthe outer end portion of the composite stopper. Thus, the compositestopper may be readily removed from the neck of the receptacle or bottlewithout breaking the 45 cork and without the use of a corkscrew orsimilar instrument.

While the invention has been described with reference to the particularshape of the recess 3 and the core member 4 and with reference to 50specific types of materials it is apparent that changes may be madetherein by those skilled in the art, Such modifications may be madeWithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A stopper for bottles, particularly those containing gas evolvingbeverages, consisting of, a cylindrical stopper element provided with aconcentric cylindrical recess therein, a cylindrical core member fittedinto said recess, a cup-like member fitted over the inner end of saidcore within the recess, and said cup-like member being impermeable togases.

2. A stopper as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cup-like member is madeof metal foil.

3. A stopper as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cup-like member is madeof gas-impermeable paper.

4. A stopper for bottles adapted to contain a gas-evolving beveragecomprising, a stopper elesaid recess.

JOS FURQUET.

